Khaleda Zia, the first female prime minister of Bangladesh whose long rivalry with Sheikh Hasina defined the country’s politics for a generation, has died aged 80.
Zia was one of the most significant and divisive political figures in the country since Bangladesh independence 50 years ago. Her death was announced on Tuesday morning by the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP).
Zia was the widow of former Bangladeshi president and military hero Ziaur Rahman, who had led to the fight for the country’s democracy but was killed in a military coup in 1981.
She took up his political mantle with gusto and gained a loyal following for her uncompromising stance against the military dictatorship. She first came to power in 1991, remaining in office until 1996 and then served a brief second stint. However, the opposition boycotted the election result and Zia was then toppled by Hasina, who remained her arch political nemesis for the next 30 years.
As Zia and Hasina alternated in the prime minister’s office over the past three decades, they stayed locked in a fierce political rivalry. Zia’s 2001 regime was mired accusations of corruption and after Hasina took power again in 2009, she was slapped with multiple cases.
In 2018, Zia was found guilty and jailed on corruption charges for 10 years. Her party said the charges were politically motivated to weaken the opposition, accusations denied by the Hasina government.
Under Hasina, Zia’s BNP party faced routine harassment and oppression, with most leaders jailed or forced to flee abroad.
Zia remained under house arrest for years, while her health began to deteriorate. But after the fall of Hasina during in a mass uprising in 2024, she was freed from years of house arrest. In January, Zia was allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment after Hasina’s government rejected requests at least 18 times.
Despite years of ill health and imprisonment, Zia vowed in November to campaign in elections set for February 2026, the first vote in Bangladesh since the fall of Hasina. However, late in November, Zia was taken to hospital, where her condition continued to decline.
After her death was announced, interim prime minister Muhammad Yunus released a statement, calling Zia a “symbol of the democratic movement”.
Zia’s son Tarique Rahman, who had lived in exile in the UK for 18 years, returned to Bangladesh this month to contest the elections, with the BNP considered to be the frontrunners.
Zia is expected to be buried on Wednesday in Dhaka, alongside her husband.